I Never Meant to Be a Coward
by ObsessivePuffin
Summary: [THE TWO PRINCESSES OF BAMARRE] King Lionel, Addie and Meryl's father, looks back on the whole ordeal. One-shot, please review.


A/N: This is a fanfic based on the book The Two Princesses of Bamarre, which is one of my favorite books. It's a one shot, about King Lionel(Addie and Meryl's father) and his life. If you haven't read the book, read it! It's by the same author of Ella Enchanted, but hopefully it won't turn into a butchered movie like poor Ella Enchanted has. Anyway, have fun reading! Also..if you enjoy Harry Potter or Pirates of the Caribbean, *hint hint*, READ MY OTHER FANFICTIONS!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the Princesses of Bamarre, Rhys, Addie, Meryl, or King Lionel.  
  
My PATENTED Disclaimer: I, sadly, don't own the following: Sam from Benny and Joon, Don Juan de Marco, Captain Jack Sparrow(he's tied up in my closet, but still, I'm after SAM!) or his pirates, Harry Potter and his friends, and last but not least, Dewey Finn. They all belong to the writers that created them.  
On with the story!  
  
I never meant to be a coward. That's what I am- a coward. My greatest wish was just like Meryl's wish- to save Bamarre, to cure the Gray Death. And Daria intended to be right by my side.  
  
We were in pure bliss, Daria and I. Nothing could stop us- we believed the bonds of love would save us, save us from dragons, from ogres, specters, and all the monsters that haunted Bamarre. Even the Gray Death.  
  
But then it struck Daria. And I wonder, to this day, was it something she'd done? Something I'd done, and Sir Gray Death would strike at her to seek its revenge on me, to make me suffer? To this day, I have no idea. And so I became a coward. I hid from my daughters, Meryl and Addie, and they grew up without a father. Bamarre lived without a true king, and I lived without, really, a soul. I resorted to something else that could make decisions for me: The Book of Homely Truths. And every time I opened the book, a Homely truth popped out at me- Seek counsel, it said. Odd thoughts that I never believed but resorted to, an involuntary fixture that became like blinking. But every time I opened the book, I hoped one would say to be brave. Be strong. Be the man Daria loved, the man that could lead charges and last them. But it never did, and I, as well as Bamarre, fell apart. I came to realize Bamarre needed a hero, and I wondered if I should be that hero. And then Meryl was struck...  
  
The daughter of mine that was brave, like me when I was young, stricken with the Gray Death. The only person I ever considered could save Bamarre of the dreadful disease, the disease that could not be cured. Never did I dream in a million years that Meryl would be the one. And, once more, I couldn't dream of Addie going to save her.  
  
I suppose Addie had it in her, she was definitely a shy girl. She was quiet and looked quiet, dressing in light hues. The only passion she ever showed was in her embroidery, which captured feeling and lust and anger all in one. And I suppose it was those same feelings for her sister, for her desire to save Bamarre, her feeling toward the disease that caused her to go.  
  
And what even shocks me more is that she lived through it. She lived through a dragon's lair, the most horrifying place one could ever dream to be. She killed gryphons, ogres, and forced prophecies from specters. And she found the cure.  
  
When Addie came back that day, the day before Meryl was to die of the Gray Death, I was astounded to learn she found the cure. She intended to take Meryl to the falls to cure her, and- unbelievably- she intended to take Rhys with her.  
  
That day I realized that it wasn't just Meryl that was like me when I was younger, it was Addie too. Addie could last a war, I bet, and come out alive and with more valuable information and things than ever. It was Addie that quested for the cure, not Meryl, not me. And it was Addie who fell in love. Deep in love with Rhys, like I was in love with Daria. And I knew they'd save the kingdom, and have victory- victory for Bamarre.  
  
I learned that Meryl, still brave, had acquired the greatest honor- she transformed into a fairy. Both my daughters, then, had gotten something so valuable. Love and an amazing transformation.  
  
And I stayed in the castle, asking Homely truths if I should go or not. Go to see my daughter marry, go to see my fairy daughter.  
  
I never wanted to be a coward. 


End file.
